


My Little Iron Man

by STARSdidathing



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Cute, Cutesy, Developing Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Loki-centric, M/M, Plushies, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 22:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11678658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing
Summary: Things aren't always what they seem, but Loki does not trustanythingthat comes from the Avengers. Especially not something so innocent and...childish.





	My Little Iron Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NovaRain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaRain/gifts).
  * Inspired by [It's a Chibi World](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11508186) by [NovaRain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaRain/pseuds/NovaRain). 



> This was inspired by the fabulous NovaRain’s drawing found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11508186/chapters/25870317) of chibi!Loki cuddling with an Iron Man plushie. AND HONESTLY, SHE IS A FABULOUS ARTIST AND DESERVES ALL THE LOVE SO GO CHECK ALL HER AWESOME STUFF OUT X3
> 
> Also, this was betaed by the _fabulous_ rightsidethru who is such a gem. Seriously. So glad you put up with my emails and rambles. ♥

It was a joke. Loki knew it was nothing more than a joke.

He had returned to his rooms to find the small, soft, bright object sitting in the centre of his bed, resting against his pillows. Loki had stared at it for a long moment, honestly surprised that someone had _dared_ to enter his room to place it there. 

...yet: Loki was still under suspicion, still under the Avengers’ _watchful eye_ as he repented for his crimes. It was a truly frustrating arrangement, but it had been one of the more... tolerable options that had been presented to him by the Allfather.

It meant that the mage’s _rooms_ \- such as they were - were subject to the occasional search by one of the spies as well as continual scans by Stark's artificial servant. This was still the first time something had actually been _left_ for him, however.

It was a Midgardian toy, Loki was quick to note: one of the stuffed, soft, plush creatures that were common and beloved among mortal children.

This one was obviously designed to mimic Iron Man.

Moving closer to the bed, Loki hesitated for only a moment; after a cursory check for threats with magic, he picked it up. It was exceedingly light, slightly... squishy, and obviously designed to look neither threatening nor dangerous. It matched the mortal’s armour well, but had a larger, more circular head. The toy also held none of the intimidation of the actual suit.

The body of the toy fit easily in the mage’s palm as he stared at it, absently examining it for flaws. Truthfully, he had no idea what to do with it.

What was the plaything even _doing_ in his rooms?

Loki half suspected Stark to be the culprit since his ego was well known - but the motivation behind the... _offering_ eluded him. Had Stark intended some insult? Was it some brazen attempt to display his power by entering Loki’s rooms whenever he wished? Surely Stark credited him with enough intellect to be well aware that his _privacy_ in this tower was non-existent.

It was puzzling, and Loki ended up simply staring at the toy, rearranging his hold to better examine it from all angles - trying to find some hidden reason or meaning for the thing to have been placed on his bed. Loki was no closer to finding an answer when the alarms in the tower started blaring.

Loki looked up at the ceiling, glaring at the irritating call for ‘Avengers Assemble.’

“Does this infernal planet _ever_ stop coming under attack?” Loki growled under his breath before tossing the toy onto his bed to examine and discover the true meaning of its presence at a later date.

For the moment, Loki had some new annoying threat to assist the mortals with first.

* * *

The mystery of the toy continued to plague the mage for the days following its appearance. He even took to spending more time around Stark, trying to discover some hidden motive or if it had all been an attempt to mock him.

Stark seemed surprised at Loki’s presence, but no more receptive of him than usual. The Midgardian treated Loki with civility while still trying to speak with him about magic. Loki had ignored all the mortal’s attempts in the past, but he allowed it this time--initially as a means of distracting the man and trying to discover whether he was the culprit behind the toy.

But Loki was... taken aback by how much Stark _understood_ his explanations. Loki actually began to pay attention to the other man and became more involved in their conversations. Loki also found himself continually shocked at the mortal’s intelligence.

Loki also learned that Stark _had_ procured the toy but that he had given one to each of the Avengers. Banner, it seemed, was the only one aside from Loki who hadn’t either destroyed it, given it back to Stark, or given it to a child. Banner’s had been placed in his lab and sat amongst the man’s numerous scientific instruments. Loki only discovered this fact by accident when he had been caught in a discussion with Stark that had required Banner’s biological background and they had gone searching for the other scientist.

Loki had been... perplexed by the discovery: not that Stark had done something so ridiculous, but that _he_ had been included in the odd gifting. Loki had chosen to dismiss the oddity in the end to better focus on his discussions with the mortal.

The mage had even _forgotten_ about the toy as the days turned to weeks and became _months_. The plush simply sat discarded in a drawer in Loki’s room.

Loki also found himself a more accepted part of the team as time passed. He found that the searches of his room ceased to occur and that he spent almost his entire time with... Tony.

That had been the most troubling revelation: when the curious mortal ‘Stark’ had actually become _Tony_ instead; because the other man grew to be important to Loki both as a friend and as something... else.

That shift in perception caused Loki to sit in his rooms, frustrated and pinching the bridge of his nose, furious at himself for his own stupidity. A _mortal_. Gods, he was as pathetic as Thor - no, he was _worse_. Thor had at least shaken off his infatuation with that Midgardian woman as he did many others who had interested him over the years.

Loki was more selective and far less frequent in his interests. He also had the terribly bad habit of falling _hard_ and having extreme difficulty in shaking off his affections when he became aware of them.

It was maddening how thoroughly the mortal had gotten under Loki’s skin in such a short period of time. 

Tony’s bright, excited grin began to make affection bloom in Loki’s chest. His smug smirk and raised eyebrows as he showed off made Loki want to pin the engineer against the nearest workbench and claim that mouth and every other part of him.

Loki _wanted_ him, and he couldn’t begin to decipher if that attraction was mutual.

It was while the mage was getting nowhere with that frustrating debate - trying to distract himself by searching for a magic tome - that he pulled open a drawer and found the dust-collecting toy that had been the catalyst of his current predicament

Loki had frowned and plucked the toy from the drawer, using magic to rid it of any dirt, and stared at the thing. He even hovered the toy in the air, letting it circle in a display not unlike what Tony was fond of doing when surveying his suit designs. 

Loki found _himself_ surveying the toy but thinking of... Tony. He sighed aloud and looked at the floating toy. Lifting a finger, Loki lightly used it to tip the toy’s chin up in a mimicry of something he wanted to do to the mortal man himself. 

It made Loki smile ruefully. “Whatever will I do with you?”

Because, in the end, that was the true source of Loki’s uncertainty: Tony might be receptive to an advance from him, it might actually be a mutual attraction but... Loki didn’t know if he actively wanted to pursue Tony.

The other man was mortal. Tony was... _frustrating_. He challenged Loki; he would infuriate the mage. A romance with Tony meant Loki would be staying on this planet and defending it for far longer than his sentence required.

Sighing again, Loki slowly spun the toy once more as it hovered in the air. It would hardly help him make a decision by just _staring_ at the toy, but Loki found that the ridiculous, bright, _absently given_ gift from Tony so many months ago was... _nice_ to look at.

It reminded him of Tony.

It reminded Loki as to why the damn mortal was... important to him.

* * *

Staring at the toy became a rather... ridiculous ritual for Loki after that day.

He didn’t _allow_ the toy to be seen by any of the others should they have a need to come and speak with him in his rooms. Which, Loki would admit, was rare - but especially not Tony, who was the only one fond of regularly visiting Loki in his own quarters. Tony came by if he wanted to discuss some new project or invention. Sometimes it was because the mortal was bored and wanted to poke at Loki’s things.

It was always entertaining to watch, so Loki allowed it. Loki also made sure to keep the toy expertly hidden to avoid Tony accidentally discovering it.

Loki only brought it out at night and only occasionally. He would float it in the air and pensively watch it as he contemplated Tony.

Their relationship was... enjoyable. Simple. _Relaxing._

Tony made Loki laugh and feel more like himself than he had in...far too many centuries. Loki wasn’t sure that he wanted to deepen that feeling--to complicate something that Loki had come to truly cherish. 

_But would he enjoy Tony more if they were lovers - **partners**?_

It was a thought that Loki often came back to and was something he couldn’t find a suitable answer for no matter how often he shifted and stared at the toy late into the evenings.

In fact, Loki hadn’t come to any solid decision when the option of slow contemplation was taken from him entirely. Loki had still been wavering between one decision and the other when he’d come back to his rooms after having been asked to assist Banner in the lab.

Loki had planned on returning to the scientist upon consulting one of his books, but his plans derailed upon reaching his rooms and catching sight of his bed. Or rather: what was _on it._

There, in the middle of the bed - just like so long ago - was an Iron Man toy identical to the one Loki had been given... but _beside it_ , their hands _joined_ , was a [toy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11702310) designed to look like _him_.

The toy was done in the armour that the mage currently wore while fighting with the Avengers. It included his horns, which made him look absurd, and he was _smiling_. Like a.... like a _child_. Loki’s eyes were depicted as _crescent moons_.

Loki didn’t know what to do for the longest moment: feeling frozen in place before forcing himself to move, stalking forward so that he could reach the toys. He gripped them, intending to pull them apart - intending to discover _who_ had sought to mock him in such a way and _make them pay_ \- when Loki noticed a folded piece of paper that had been resting underneath the Iron Man toy.

Loki stared at it with deep foreboding before reaching for the paper and unfolding it with one hand.

He recognised Tony’s messy scrawl instantly, but it was the _words_ that made him swallow thickly as his heart jolted in his chest with something horribly warm and - damn it all - _hopeful._

_I’ll be in the lab - if you want me._

Loki re-read the note three times before his eyes fell back to the toys. He was holding the Iron Man one, but his own toy was still clinging desperately to the hand of the other, undeterred by the fact that gravity was trying to pull them apart.

It made the mage swallow at the thought - at the implication behind _that_. 

But... he simply didn’t understand why Tony would get one made in Loki’s image; he doubted they were mass produced like Tony’s. Loki wondered why the mortal would leave that _note_. What did he intend by it? What did he _mean?_

 _It must be another joke_ , Loki’s mind whispered harshly, and he clenched his fist in anger at the idea.

The mage didn’t even second-guess the decision; he just teleported directly to Tony’s lab with the toys in one hand and the note in the other. Tony’s back was to him as he tinkered with something, but that didn’t stop Loki from growling lowly, “ _What_ do you think you’re doing?”

Tony didn’t even flinch; instead, he looked over his shoulder and, when his eyes travelled down to the toys, he brightened. A smile came over his face as he swivelled in his chair to face Loki directly. “Awesome. You found them.”

“You came into my _room_. You gave me these _things_ -” 

“Representations of us. I mean, granted, you don’t smile as much as plushie-Loki, but I bet you’d be cute if you did.”

“Why did you-” Loki stuttered to a halt, blinking a few times. “ _Cute?_ ”

“Yeah,” Tony told him with a soft smile. His eyes never moved to the toys and instead held Loki’s own as the engineer told him: “And I think we look good together. I think we _could_ be good together.”

Loki opened his mouth but nothing came out. He ended up closing it and looking down at the toys that were dangling by his side. He only looked back at Tony again when he heard the chair move, followed by footsteps coming closer.

Tony stopped a few feet in front of the mage, his smile never fading despite Loki knowing his own face and actions must have been anything but encouraging or reciprocal. 

“Why did you do this?” Loki asked quietly, searching Tony’s face for any kind of lie or trick.

Tony shrugged a little, showing the first hint of nerves since Loki had appeared. “Because I saw Bruce’s Iron Man toy in his lab and it made me wonder what you might have done with yours. Then, when I asked JARVIS, he said you had kept it. It made me... well. It made me _hope_ that this wasn’t as one-sided as I was thinking it was. So I got a Loki one made.” He dropped his eyes down to the toys, a slightly wistful smile appearing upon his lips. “I figured... even if this blew up in my face and I didn’t get my Loki, at least that Tony could get his.”

“You wish to court me,” Loki murmured incredulously all while running their previous interactions through his mind - running through his own worries, interests, and _wants_ when it came to the man in front of him.

“Yeah,” Tony sighed out, suddenly sounding rather deflated. “And I’m guessing that’s not mutual.” He closed his eyes for a moment, rallying himself and expertly masking the sharp pain that had briefly flashed over his face. “Well. I guess you can just get rid of them-”

The engineer stopped abruptly when Loki reached forward and lightly cupped Tony’s jaw. Loki had let go of the note to do it, but it meant nothing to him when Tony’s wide eyes were locked on his own. “You court me with children’s toys. I do hope you will improve as we continue.”

It took Tony a second and a blink before he grinned widely, and Loki felt hands lightly touch his hips. “Absolutely. I will absolutely up my game in the second phase.”

“Excellent,” Loki murmured quietly before moving forward to press their mouths together in a very soft, gentle kiss. Tony practically melted against him, and Loki let go of the toys in order to cup Tony’s other’s cheek and pull him even closer.

Tony just hummed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Loki’s waist. That one gesture - that open affection - made something tight and nervous in Loki’s chest and stomach simply... unclench.

Loki sighed softly into the kiss and slid his hands down to Tony’s neck. The touches were easy, languid... _wonderful_ and Loki couldn’t be certain - not yet, not so soon - but he _hoped_ that, just like he’d theorised earlier, being with Tony like this - partners, lovers - would only end up being _better_.

**Author's Note:**

> Now. NovaRain. I know you’re on a bit of an angst kick lately, but this just really wanted to be fluffy. I’M SORRY! I HAD INTENDED FOR PINING AND EVERYTHING, BUT ALAS, IT DID NOT HAPPEN. Hopefully you still like it and it's weird (hopefully!) cuteness x3
> 
>  **EDIT:** SO I HAVE JUST LINKED IT IN THE ARTWORK BUT THE LOVELY NOVARAIN JUST WENT AND _DID ART FOR HER OWN DAMN FIC_ LOL. She is amazing and precious and has gifted us with the [awesome image](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11702310) of the two plushies holding hands while Loki looks at them like wtf?? IT'S ADORABLE AND AMAZING AND YOU TOTALLY NEED TO GO CHECK IT OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT ALREADY!
> 
> GO GIVE HER LOVE. SHE DESERVES IT :3 ♥

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Plushie Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11702310) by [NovaRain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaRain/pseuds/NovaRain)




End file.
